joegarland

I love this idea! Would love to see you and Brendan Lea on Joe Rogan together. Charles Eisenstein’s Podcast, whose work rhymes with D. Schmactenberger’s Collective Insights, from Neurohacker Collective Interdependence, maybe a long shot. Arts and culture podcast loosely affiliated in the Mark Fischer/Strelka Institute academic world Majority Report and Vaush LOL. Also long shots. Chipping my voice in to the BATGAP roar.

I took the course. Save your $2000 for something else.

Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind and don’t want anyone’s feedback. Fine. But why create this thread in the first place?

Bad idea. I chose to live in my car during a NYC winter for similar reasons. This was me for the next six months: There are a lot of things you’re taking for granted right now that you won’t have access to. You may end up having far less free time than you thought, and what time you do have will be tinged with a new, unexpected layer of stress. You’re adding way more obstacles than you’re removing.

There may be better, more sympathetic interviews with this author, but this one so clearly depicts two clashing worldviews. The interviewer just completely misses everything she’s saying—he’s thoroughly ensconced in the neoliberal framework.

I'm taking Eben Pagan's course, "Turning Your Talent into Income." In it, he gives you the fastest growing industries over the next 20 years. Here they are, in no particular order: Online business. Coaching/consulting. Software. Hardware. Alternative Education (info products, etc.) Design. (Graphic design, user interface.) Travel and transportation. Elderly care. Wellness/medical Animals and animal care. His overall message is to align your talents with what people want. I'm hesitant to take this advice. It sounds like selling out. It sounds like I'm going to be a cog. On the other hand, it might be very good advice and I'm an idealistic punk. My life purpose is to be an artist. If none of these industries are specifically related to my life purpose (with the exception of online business, but I'm not sure if selling my artwork online is what's being referred to here). I feel as if I'd have to compromise my original vision here. I'm not opposed to a compromise if it turns out to be a good marriage between myself and my audience, but I don't want to do something just because it's the most trendy or will get me the most money/success. So, anyone with business experience: is it going to be worth it to align my vision with one of these industries (spiritually, not financially)? Or is it going to lead to a lot of money but not much self-actualization? I don't want to be a cog. I could just be psyching myself out here and procrastinating on doing the research. If this is the case, call me out on it.

@Ray You're right. I'm training to be a painter, and I've got a lot of those doubts too. But these doubts about art and enlightenment are just a facet of the more general disdain for art that the current culture has. "Useless" things don't find an easy place in the modern world. Rupert gives me a lot of hope and encouragement on this path I'm on. I love this interview on his website: http://www.rupertspira.com/essay.aspx?intContentID=5&intEXID=12 and this video is great:

Van Gogh's last famous painting, Wheatfield with Crows, is often assumed to reflect the utter insanity that van Gogh was facing shortly before he killed himself. However, the scholar Cliff Edwards offers a different interpretation. Van Gogh had been studying Japanese art and religion for the final years of his life, and had a deep identification with their love of nature. Some of Vincent's letters indicate that he sometimes experienced samadhi, or something close to it, while painting. Edward's argument is that Wheatfield, which Vincent himself described as "wholesome and invigorating," does not reflect the insanity that Vincent experienced, but rather his feeling of unity with the world and a deep experience of anitcha, the ever-shifting impermanence of life. In short, Wheatfield with Crows could be considered a "non-dual" painting. d As a bonus, here's a painting done around the same time by Paul Gauguin, titled Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? I don't think either of these painters were anywhere close to enlightened, but these particular works show that they had a spiritual bent to them.

I was taking a 15 min nap, lying in bed. Not sure if I fell asleep, but suddenly I began to see a white light. And then my awareness--the "I"--began to expand beyond my body. I couldn't see anything but this white field of light. And then there was this tunnel. I thought "OH! THIS is the tunnel that everyone's talking about!" Even though I have no memory of such a tunnel. The tunnel led to a video game screen ("Copyright 1991 Nintendo" was at the bottom). Then the field of awareness began fluctuating in size as I began grappling with my ego. Suddenly I sensed a person entering my room and then I abruptly woke up from this state, although it didn't feel as if I had fallen asleep in the first place. Now I'm having a hard time knowing if this was an enlightenment experience or just a kooky lucid dream. Does anyone have a familiarity with lucid dreams, OBEs, and can help classifying this information? Where can I go to learn more, and try to replicate this experience?

Sounds like Richard Alpert has found Maharaj-ji.

@Leo Gura Dear Leo, At the end of your "Becoming a Sage" video you express doubt over whether or not people are interested in this topic. I, for one, am HELLA interested. This video is perfect. You've articulated my thoughts perfectly. I've wanted to be a sage ever since I was a kid. You also mentioned a desire to have a camera follow you around as you go about your day. I would kill for just one of these videos. I'm sure I speak for all of us here. You are a serious role model to me and to many others on this forum, and getting a little glimpse into your day would be an Enlightenment in itself. So look, I'm proposing that you do a vlog. It doesn't matter how many installments you make. It could be one, ten, a hundred. I don't care. Or make a special episode: "A Day in the Life of Leo." Anything that shows us behind the curtains. You said before that such a video would be boring. I say you're wrong. The following video is a guy just talking about a computer and it's mesmerizing. And you can do WAY better than a fucking MacBook review, Leo. So here's your message, Leo: make a vlog. We all want you to. Love, Joseph PS: I'm so grateful that Actualized.org exists, and that it is going in this direction. You are the answer to my prayers, basically. You understand my soul's deepest longings, and you're helping me get there. Not enough words to thank you.

I'm finishing up a class in American Religion at University, and I chose to write my final paper on Ram Dass's career as Richard Alpert. It's a fascinating history. If you don't read the paper, I definitely recommend the following books: Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD - Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain The Harvard Psychedelic Club - Don Lattin Enjoy! dass_paper_final.docx

@Neo Memories and thoughts can lose their pain with enough awareness. Just remain aware of the thought and how it is causing you pain. Do not engage with it; acknowledge it and let it go. I underestimated the power of this for a long time, but through it I have let go of a few major sources of pain in my life. It can take weeks and months, but it will eventually pass. @Frogfucius I felt a similar experience. It was like I'd fallen into this void, and when I got out it seemed like hours had passed when it must have only been minutes. Maybe I was just on the verge of sleep, but it felt amazing. Happened again today. For the first time ever, maybe, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's sit.

In the early stages of my personal development, I would've laughed at Tony Robbins, let alone Sadhguru. It was through the voices of "cool" people like musicians that I could begin to see that there was something to it. OutKast's "Get Up, Get Out" was a great stick in my ass. Rappers in general are paragons on persistence and vision. If you like the idea of inspiring newbies and lazy bums to aim higher, music (and the "image" of the musician) can be an especially good way to do that. Or if you want to address the more spiritual aspects of PD, you can convey that through your lyrics. Think of yourself as a divine poet if you want to. Rumi's poetry combines beauty with instruction very nicely. I wouldn't give up on music just yet. Try one, try the other, try combining them.

@Davie I stand when I meditate. Sitting does feel more "official," but I always feel pain in my back after an hour on my butt. Not so with standing. When people say sitting is the new smoking, I know what they're talking about.